4622/(SoS)A Goddess' Schemes

(SoS)A Goddess' Schemes
Date of Scene:	05 January 2021
Location:	Sanctum Santorum
Synopsis:	Amora the Great interrupts a teaching moment in the Sanctum, and steals Dragonfang and Nico to Asgard
Cast of Characters:	Amora, Stephen Strange, Nico Minoru

---

Amora has posed:
It's a perfectly normal Tuesday. Late afternoon, outside the bustle and rustle of people moving about has dimmed as most return to their homes with the cold of winter. Just the perfect time for being at the fireplace. Some tea and scones. Maybe a good book even!

Enter Amora, destroyer of normal afternoons, arriving in quite the amazing lamborghini driven by one of her boy toys.. So easily manipulated these mortals are.. She lets out a brief sigh just as the car stops near the Sanctorum and she steps out in all her marvellous splendor, low cut bodice, below she dressed in a long dark green skirt very much in the Asgardian ways. On her feet are a pair of emerald studded heels. Because why not?

"Do not wait for me, I might just stay the whole night." An amused little laugh along with she closing the door behind her and there she goes in the direction of the entrance. Head held high, tiara holding that lush, golden hair that cascades down naked shoulders. The Asgardian certainly is no slouch where it comes to being well-dressed, or showing her true assets. Her beauty.

A knock is heard on the door, clearly done by some kind of wooden cane. TAP TAP ------ TAP.

Stephen Strange has posed:
    Stephen finds himself doing one of the few things he often says he doesn't have time for. Teaching. The wizard stands in the middle of what could be called a 'gym' but is more or less a mystic firing range. He has Nico Minoru opposite him, and with her staff in hand. Stephen is trying to teach the girl not only proper aim for offensive spells, which can be more difficult than you might imagine, as well as instructing Nico on the human limitations of spellcasting.

    "The price of magics." Stephen keeps repeating as he stands, hands held before him like a martial artist with two circles of glowing mystical energies acting as shields centered on his scarred fists. The cloak he wears hovers off to the side, behind Nico, but not invading, and is pantomiming her actions, trying to and acting like it hopes she gets the motions correct before the collars turn up and the thing twists in the air and moves out of the range.

    The third tap never hits the door as it pulls itself in, the door almost avoiding Amora's cane, and within the shallow foyer that leads up two steps into the main landing of the house with the great double stair case off to the sides of the room, between the Sanctum and Amora however, floats the cloak, watching her with its non-eyes.

Nico Minoru has posed:
Training. It was something she knew she needed, but at the same time thought she did not. In fact she was still trying to figure out how her Staff worked. She knew knew the Staff of the One was not controlled by her, it simply chose to obey her worded commands, but even then she often seemed suprised when her desired spelll actually seemed to work. However, she felt Doctor Strange could offer some knowledge for her to become more effective and at least fele like she had control.

There is a small cut on her hand, a "scarifice as it were to acrtually bring the staff forth, a blood offering that would heal when the Staff's use was complete. "Yeah the Price of Magic is my blood. Must be nice to be able to raise your hands like Ralph Macchio and have that happen without having to cut yourself." The Staff glows, but she has not issued it a command yet, words are costly as they cannot be used again.

Amora has posed:
The Goddess is not one to be left waiting so she smiles just so when the door opens before she has finished her knocking. Very good. She wanders in, all high heels and elegance, poetry in motion really as she eyes the cloak that waits her. "By Odin..." She murmurs, the corner of her mouth turning up into an amused smirk, "Have you been cursed to be forever invisible, Strange?" it's not as if she isn't aware that this is just the cloak and not the man himself. But she might as well tease.

On one hand is a rune-carved staff, a gem atop. It doesn't seem to vibrate with any specific magic but ..., it's not as if Amora often comes barging in into Strange's sanctorum like that. Specially as this is his fortress. Maybe she came to parlay? Or are other nefarious plans at hand!?

"Go tell your Master that Amora the Enchantress is here for a visitation. And do be quick about it." She tells the powerful artifact, eyes then roaming the foyer she is in. She takes in a breath, almost as if she was scenting the air, feeling it. True enough, the Sanctum defenses *are* formidable. Even with the staff she yields now she can barely feel the humming of what she is looking for. The dragonfang. But it's here..., she is nearly certain of so.

Stephen Strange has posed:
    The cloak shakes its collar in Amora's direction at her joke before a motion of hands on hips could be felt from the thing and she's bidding it to summon Stephen for her. A moment is given to Amora by the crimson clothing before it twists again and moves behind one of the stairs to enter the range once more.

    "Not the cost of summoning your staff, which, will grant you skill, but it's not your only source of magic, else you couldn't summon it. The magic you cast from it is certainly potent, but you can cast your own, and that's the magic that will come at a cost." Stephen is saying when the cloak enters and adjusts itself to be a ... representation of the guest at the door and is trying to play charades with the two mages in the room.

    "Zatanna is here? She early." Stephen says to the cloak before looking back at Nico with a shrug. The cloak shakes its collar again and reaches out to wrap around Stephen's shoulders and moves him towards the two, the bottom hem grasping Nico by the wrist and guiding her with the sorcerer to stand before Amora.

    "How did you...?" Stephen begins but stops his question as quickly as it began.

Nico Minoru has posed:
She is listening she really is. There are very few people that Nico would actually listen to about anything, but when Doctor Stephen Strange speaks to you about magic, you shutup and listen closely and that is exactly what she has been doing. Her reply is not disrepectful, but delivered in Nico's wonderful dry tone of sarcasm. "Oh I know there is something going on inside..." She pauses and pokes herself in the chest. "...here. There has been a few times that the staff has summoned itself when I was not able to do so. I think I a host for something I have yet to understand."

As he wrist is grabbed by the cloak, Nico moves to follow along, allowing the cloak to lead her into the entrance where Amora stands waiting. It is evident she is unsure of who exactly stands before her, a softly muttered word more so to herself. "Oh good. Everything I despise rolled into one plastic Barbie. You didn't tell me you had dinner plans." Yet, it is Strange's words that cause her to pause and look to Strange, then back to Amora, then back to Strange again.

"I am thinking the door. It opens, people walk in. Kind of its purpose." She shrugs and looks back to Amora, eyes not leaving the well-dressed goddess.

Amora has posed:
Well, hello Staff of One. Amora's crystal blue gaze is on Strange when he arrives, then on his companion, and the staff. So very interesting. "Come now, Strange. It is not often that you are at a loss of words." She teases the sorcerer supreme, one hand resting on a well-shaped hip while her other arm gestures about. "... But then again, you do have a penchant for it where it comes to the women in your life. Which one is it now? Still Clea..?" a brief sigh. "Or perhaps Zatanna..." give it to Amora to bring the conversation to be about relationships. But then again it's her bread and butter. A brow then arches, she looking down at Nico, "Or perhaps this is your new one? No, not her." a sublime smile coursing on her lips. "Yet do not be jealous, dear. I am not here to foil your chances with the good Doctor."

"And I am Amora, the Enchantress, a Lady of Asgard." She dips her head towards Nico, as is custom between the more traditionalist mages. Always greet another practicioner politely. No matter if in the next moment they might be trying to kill one another.

"Do you know why I am here, Stephen?"

Stephen Strange has posed:
    Stephen doesn't clench his fists at Amora's teasing questions about his dating life, he's single, not proud of it, but very alone. He's lost Clea, Diana, and even helped some women to lesser and harsher fates than being exes. Such as Rita. The man swallows at his unrest and realization that he's certainly more a lady killer than he was during his high life days.

    "My business is my own Amora." Stephen says, thinking that an appropriate response to a goddess who could already know more about his relationship woes than he. Their greetings have happened before, no need to worry them now, and he's already on his toes with her having entered the sanctum so easily.

    "I don't, but I presume you're up to no good once again Amora..." He really has no idea why she's here, and he's also at a loss on what to do, in this moment, she hasn't openly assaulted him or his house or guests, not yet, but just by being inside already, she's ... different. Something is wrong.

Nico Minoru has posed:
That name. It is a showstoppe rot say the least. Nico was well aware of Amora, despite never actually being in the same space as her; being a fangirl of Thor tends to give you a little background of Asgardians especially ones of the Mystical sense. The young goth girl does not move from her spot, seemingly more than content to let Strange and the woman do the share of the speaking. Nico was just a guest afterall, but an invited one. A shift of her eyes falls upon the Doctor, but then quickly back to the Goddess before her. A softly murmured. "Eeeew...he' so..old, " more so to herself.

There is that awkward moment of silence after Strange's words, awaiting for the reason why Amora has chosen to visit, Nico shifting her weight a bit and holding the staff at her side. She knows it is not her to inerject into the conversation, although it is quite visible in her stance that she most certainly is on edge. "Way to go Nico. Picked a great day for a lesson."

Amora has posed:
"Love is never a business, Stephen." Yes, Amora can be relentless when she wants to. Many mages specialize in such boring things, like bigger fireballs, or *yawn* conjuring bigger things. For Amora it's all about the dynamics of relationships, the manipulation of them, those strings that have the heart sing in the right way. It is no coincidence she is called the Enchantress. "But I have already offered you my help in the past. You but have to ask." everything has a price though.

"I am always up to no good. This is my nature. You should know it." The woman pacing a bit to the side, "Do you ask Loki that same question when you meet him too?" her smirk deepening.

"Old? My darling, the word you are looking for is refined. If he is teaching you though I can tell you there is noone else as good to teach you. Well, besides me, of course." of course.

Is she buying time? Perhaps. She is still..., looking. Searching? It's very subtle, the way her eyes turn here, or there. Focusing just for the split of a second but then she fully regards Strange. "Your disappearance." she then finally says, "You know the one I speak of, you were gone for .., quite a while. Something changed, in the fabric of magic, did you feel it?"

Stephen Strange has posed:
    Stephen squints at Amora and takes a step closer with a hand behind his back waving to Nico, hinting to the girl to stay back. He's not going to take chances. "Of course I ask Loki what his plans are when he appears, and usually, he'll trick even himself into revealing them. You're much more humble than he is." Stephen says, taking another step before he pauses.

    "I-... yes." He did feel the change in magic, and as he was about to lift a hand to Amroa's shoulder, she asks that question, and as he was to ask her to leave politely, he's blindsided with the power and implications of the goddess' question. "I - Do you know what caused it?" He asks quietly, trying to whisper a secret message between he and Amora. Something private. An intimacy that he should know too well is Amora's forte and fountain. A relationship, even as simple as a secret between two.

Nico Minoru has posed:
Nico realizes she is in a situation way over her head. The two powerful mystics engaged in a conversation of which she is oblivious to and at the same time wishes to be no part of. The waving of the hand from Strange does have the young girl stepping back, but her eyes and focus remain on the pair. Her hand grips the staff tighter as if she feels like Amora will try and rip it from her grasp. Part of her actually thinks: You know I could slip right out that door, be down the street and drinking a black coffee and making up stories about people's lives in the park; yet she remains. Something inside of her telling that at this very moment, she was supposed to be here.

Amora has posed:
"The consequences." Amora then whispers in response to Stephen's question, the smirk only growing larger. Like a cheshire who is keeping the secret tight against her chest, that enigmatic smile not revealing of anything, at the same time terrible and alluring. This is Amora though. Is she telling the truth? Perhaps. "Awakenings of ancient magics, long lost to Humanity and Asgardian. Yet where did *you* go when you disappeared, Stephen?" She questions, fingertips continuing to slowly brush up the staff she is holding. Compared to the staff of one that isn't exactly a great looking staff, or a known one? So why would she be carrying it here?

"It also brings .., interesting opportunities though. Of power, but in my case something long due." Amora twirls to fully face Strange now, tapping her staff on the floor once. It sheds the carvings it has about it, almost as if it was a snake changing skins.. And indeed, that was the incantation in it. A cloaking spell, powered by the staff itself. Underneath it glows with a powerful magic, pure magic, molded into a staff.

"And I am here to collect what was stolen." What is she talking about? But what it is becomes clear when the defenses about Dragonfang begin to get breached. The old blade belonging to Valkyrie.

Stephen Strange has posed:
    Stephen's eyes are easily read by Amora, she can tell he lingers on her words, longs to hear her voice tickle his inner ear, and yet, she breaks that spell with the shattering of another. He takes a step back, the cloak pulling him away and unfurling to obscure Nico from the sudden change in the situtation.

    "What have you done?!" Stephen asks, openly his fists are clenched now and the circles centered on them appears as Stephen takes up a defensive stance, eyes locked onto Amora's green orbs. The house itself feels hotter, a fever reaction to an invading body, and the foyer and the main landing the three stand in, feels ... nausious itself. As the sanctum attempts to regurgitate Amora out of itself, but finds the Asgardian witch too strong to counter with a single ward.

    Stephen and Nico's chest tightens at the nausia invading them as well. "I've---" Stephen fights the feeling of rising bile, "Stolen nothing!"

Nico Minoru has posed:
A stolen blade belonging to Asgard? Things just keep getting better. Or was it not stolen? It makes no difference as the scene escalates quickly. Nico finds herself behind the Doctor's cloak and as the House tries to purge Amora from its walls, the pressure on her own chest starts to rise. The feeling of trying to not purge herself is strong and and her free hand goes to her stomach, a low moan. "What...I..." The struggle on her face seems to be growing as the magic exuded from the House itself is crippling.

Amora has posed:
"Do. Not. Lie." Amora's voice gains an otherworldly tone, powerful and alien, eyes blazing with power as she takes a step forward, defying the house to continue fighting. Daring it. The seal on the sword continues to crack and break. "You have kept what you do not belong, the ancient blade of the Valkyries. Lost in time." of course that she makes no mention having had a hand in the disappearance of the actual Valkyrie who wielded it at the time. Details..

She grits her teeth, for even with the power she wields now this is still an overwhelming feeling, the whole place wanting to keep her out. But she breaks not her poise, focused. She is here in a mission afterall, "Give it back to ME!" clearly she can go from eight to eighty. All nice in one moment, close to raging on the next.

She takes another step towards the duo, tapping the staff on the ground again, reinforcing her protective fields as she turns towards that sigil window. There. That's where it is.

Stephen Strange has posed:
    "I..." Stephen stands up straighter, his hands gripping onto spells as he tries to protect himself and Nico from the wards within the ancient house. "I'm no liar, nor a trickster, Asgardian witch. This you surely already know of..." URK. Stephen's wards fail and he doubles over.

    The sword, hidden beneath the molding beneath the great sigil window, hidden there by the ancient one to protect from such a foe like Amora exactly, though he likely never imagined the witch getting her hands on a staff crafted of magic given phsyical form. And with the house holding, confining and warding against new powerful denizens below, things seem to be coming to a head and growing more vulnerable within the Bleeker Street house.

Nico Minoru has posed:
Nico is fighting all she can to maintain her upright posture, and Doctor Strange's ward has helped a bit, but there is only so much it can do. The strain on her face is growing and she drops to one knee, her hand gripping the staff for support, but that doing very little. "I...I...can't." Her eyes close and her breathing grow more labored. It is then that a darkness and cracking of her skin starts to encircle both her eyes, the staff starting to glow a bit. It is clear that something inside her is swelling, seemingly coming from the staff itself.

Amora has posed:
"A shame ..., for you could be so much more.." Amora says wistfully about Strange not being a liar and a trickster. "Yet ignorance is .., no excuse." the vulnerability is felt. Sensed as it happens all around the house. The diverting of it's attentions. And Amora never lets an opportunity go. Again the staff taps on the ground, powerful flows of magic all around and focusing on that mold under the window. Her eyes glow and she smiles triumphantly.

"Yes.." The mold cracks, the ancient seals breaking away as the gleaming metal within becomes visible, the ancient blade fabled to have been carved from the hide of a dragon. Funny how these things go considering her staff was also taken from the magic of a dragon.

"To me." She commands the blade, it starting to rise up from it's enclosure. Of course that now she is ignoring both sorcerers, perhaps not expecting they will have any way to stop her.

Stephen Strange has posed:
    The sword obeys and yet the house seems to grow around Amora, as if it's extending the reality and space between her and the blade, so she can feel it getting closer and yet, the blade and the Asgardian remain appart. Stephen drops to a knee, weakned from the wards within his house acting as a whole and not able to focus on a single individual such is Amora's power in this moment. Though the wizard makes a gesture and in an instant, a great double sided axe swings off a wall, aiming towards Stephen, but taking a path that would allow it to wound Amora, "You enter into my house, uninvited, and you insult me, and expect to walk out of here without something to remember me by." Stephen says in a snarl, unbecoming of him but he's being pushed to new limits.

    "Like Hel you are."

Nico Minoru has posed:
Slowly the Goth Soceress begins to rise back ot her feet, the Staff of the One held out before in front of her face. She turns her body slowly to where the sword is beginning to rise from its enclosure as the circle head of the staff begins to glow. "Sword in Stone!!" The words are yelled out, no they are screamed. A dark purplish stream shoots out from the staff, striking the sword as it rises.

The blade rockets itself across the entryway and lodges itself in the chest of one of the large stone Gorgons almost to the hilt. Yet, the action seems to have drained her and she collpases to the floor on her hands and knees, breathing heavily. "Mr. Strange...." Her voice is soft and weakened and hardly expecting a reply.

Amora has posed:
As usual her arrogance appears to be getting the better of her, having her not perceive at first the attacks from the two sorcerers. But as Strange said, she is an Asgardian witch, one that knows a little bit of combat to go with magic. So when the blade flies in her direction she weaves back, just in time to have it brush past her front. It still lightly touches her tiara, having it scatter to the ground, along with cutting a couple of small pieces of her golden hair. Of course that we are talking about Amora, and having someone nearly mess with her face has the gift of infurating her more. "You should not had done this."

But that is when the sword flies to pierce through one of the statues and embed itself there. "Nooo!" She shouts. Amora knows the power of the Staff of One. To take a blade out of that statue? That will take, most likely, the one the sword belongs to.

"Undo what you have done." She commands, her eyes going to the young girl that has dropped on her hands and knees, "Undo it, and I guarantee no harm will come to any of you."

Stephen Strange has posed:
    Stephen rises to his feet, hand clutched on the shaft of the axe, held just beneath the head and he frowns with a shrug of his shoulders. "Have you tried asking nicely instead of demanding?" Stephen notes as he looks over to Nico and frowns. He has to protect the girl, and with a step, he puts himself between Amora and the girl, not the blade. He's always been more concerned about life. Priming and resting the axe handle on his shoulder, Stephen motions towards the burried sword and notes, "We both know the staff doesn't simply work like that. So lets hear some please and thank yous." The doctor requests.

Nico Minoru has posed:
She is exausted. The effort to cast the spell with the strain she was under has clearly taken its toll on the young Sorceress. Her chest is heaving and her gaze cast to the floor; the staff clutched still in her hand, and resting on the floor as well. "I...can't. Not now." Her eyes peer up from floor itself to peer past Strange's leg, falling on the Glamour Goddess. "You harm him...or me...you will never get it out. You...need me." her eyes have gone back to normal now, the dark and cracked skin having vanished. She rises to her knees, but remains there behind the Doctor.

Amora has posed:
Please? Thank yous? Someone doesn't know how Amora works! And that is taking without asking when she knows she has the upper hand. So the response she has to Strange is to simply lift that slim, pointed chin and just smile in that way of hers that has toppled armies and Gods, "Asking for something which does not belong to you?" she looks at the statue, then at the girl...

"Yes, it seems I do need you, doesn't it?" Her shoulders then rise up as if in a 'fine'. She is just as good taking the girl as well. A mere setback. So her hand extends towards Nico, tendrils of energy shooting out of her fingertips to go and attempt to wrap about the girl to pull her towards her. Her own version of the bands of cyttorak? Perhaps just another little jab at the sorcerer supreme..

This is done while she walks to the statue. And really, the way she is weaving the staff, the magic being done.. Yes, it does seem she is preparing a teleport spell.

"You are ever the gracious host, Stephen. Perhaps we can have dinner sometime." The nerve on the Asgardian. One moment going about destroying the place the other talking about dinner arrangements.

Stephen Strange has posed:
    With the mystical bands snaking past, Stephen brings the blade of the axe down onto the spell, expecting to sever it, when in fact the axe shatters into pieces and he's left holding a splintered piece of wood, bent from the force of the blow. He recoils back and finds Amora near the statue, the student in her grasp and Stephen reaches a hand out to try and stop the witches from leaving.

    "Nooo!" Stephen breaks into a sprint, the cloak giving him extra speed, but the Asgardian is too skilled and practiced, and over powering even in this place, Stephen can't best her as she currently is and like that---

Nico Minoru has posed:
Nico is completely encircled by the Enchantress' magic, the tendrils gripping her tightly and pulling her closer to her kidnapper. She tries to struggle, but it appears ther eis little she can do, legs kicking and flailing in a desperate attempt to release herself. "Let...me...go..." The staff itself in her hands begins to dissipate, it having been summoned fore with a small cut to he rhand, but that sacrifice having been spent the staff no returns to its place within. It would take another blood offering to call it forth once more and her arms are unable to reach the small blade she keeps in her boot.

Her eyes look to Strange and she mouths the words. "I'm sorry Doctor."

Amora has posed:
---the teleport spell finally finishes being weaved, again that triumphant little smile as a mirror appears right next to the statue, 'sucking' it in and within.. As for both Amora and Nico, the same begins to happen, their figures rippling and fading as they get brought into the mirror and out of sight ... In the distance, on the other side of the mirror, a large tower can be seen...

And just like that the portal closes, leaving behind a lone Doctor. No sword, no Amora, no student. On the floor though something was left. Amora's tiara which she didn't retrieve, along with some of her hair.

It may have been a loss this time, but everyone knows a wizard's retribution always comes swift.